Whites, EE 322 Lecture 16 Page 1 of 8

Lecture 16: Bipolar Junction Transistors.

Large Signal Models.
Transistors perform key functions in most electronic circuits.
This is certainly true in RF circuits, including the NorCal 40A.

There are two basic families of transistors: (1) Bipolar junction

transistors (BJTs) and (2) Field effect transistors (FETs).

In the NorCal 40A we will use the following transistors:

npn BJT. Q1 is an example.

pnp BJT. Q4 is an example.

Junction FET (JFET). Q5 is an example.

These transistors will be used to perform a plethora of functions

in the NorCal 40A transceiver including:
Electronic switching (Q1 and Q4).
Time-varying voltage amplifiers:
o Small signal amplifier (Q6),
o Power amplifier (Q7).
Buffer amplifier (Q5).
Voltage controlled variable resistance (Q2 and Q3).
Oscillator (Q8).

We will first consider the operation of the BJT. At the end of the
next chapter in the text, we will consider the JFET.

2017 Keith W. Whites

Whites, EE 322 Lecture 16 Page 2 of 8

Bipolar Junction Transistors (BJTs)

The BJT can be drawn in simplified sketches as

npn BJT pnp BJT

pn jct pn jct pn jct pn jct

(c)ollector (e)mitter (e)mitter (c)ollector

n p n p n p

c e

b b
(b)ase (b)ase

e c

BJTs actually look a bit different than this when manufactured.

Most importantly, they are usually not symmetrical devices.

There are four basic modes of operation for a BJT depending on

the states of the two pn junctions of the transistor:

Mode Emitter-Base Jct. Collector-Base Jct.

Cutoff Reverse Reverse
Active Forward Reverse
Saturation Forward Forward
Reverse Active Reverse Forward
Whites, EE 322 Lecture 16 Page 3 of 8

Reverse and Forward Biased Junction

There are two important states for a pn junction, as discussed

earlier in Lecture 3. These are the reversed biased and forward
biased states.

(1) Reversed biased state:

Ebattery

- - - +++
- - - +++
- - - +++
E- - - +++
- - - +++
p - - - +++ n
- - - +++

width of depletion
region increases

The electric field produced by the battery Ebattery adds to the

electric field of the space charge E in the depletion region.
This increases the width of the depletion region.

Little current flows (only the drift current Is) unless the
junction breaks down. This occurs when Ebattery is strong
enough to strip electrons from the covalent bonds of the
atoms, which are then swept across the junction.
Whites, EE 322 Lecture 16 Page 4 of 8

(2) Forward biased state:

Ebattery

minority carrier
minority carrier + - + +
- +
- +
p E - + n
- +
- - + -
- +

I
width of depletion
region decreases

When V is large enough so that Ebattery > E, then (i) holes

are swept from the p to n regions, and (ii) electrons are
swept from the n to p regions. We now have current!

Bipolar Junction Transistor (BJT)

As shown earlier, the BJT is formed from two back-to-back pn

junctions:
npn BJT CBJ EBJ

Ic Ie
b c n p n e

e Ib

Measuring the dc resistance from c to e would indicate a very

large value since we have two back-to-back pn junctions. This
Whites, EE 322 Lecture 16 Page 5 of 8

would occur regardless of the polarity of the measurement since

one of the junctions will be reversed biased.

However, we can observe an interesting effect when there is a

current into the base and a voltage applied to the collector (so
that the transistor is biased in the active region):
Reversed Forward
Vcc biased biased

c n +++ --- p - + n
Ic +++ --- - + Ie
c +++ - -diffusing
- - + e
b collected
- +++ - - - e- - + injected
-
e
+++ --- - + e
E + ++ --- - +
IB +++ --- - +
Vcc
e Ib
b

IB

The EBJ is forward biased and electrons are injected into the p
region just as with a forward biased diode.

However, the base is very thin and many diffusing electrons

make it to the CBJ without recombining with holes in the
base. Here at this second junction, the strong electric field (of
the reversed-biased CBJ) sweeps the negatively charged
electrons across the junction into the collector where they
contribute to Ic.

The proportion of electrons from the emitter that make it to

the collector is called the collector efficiency,
Whites, EE 322 Lecture 16 Page 6 of 8

Ic
or I c I e (8.1)
Ie
typically ranges from 0.98 to 0.99. This relationship (8.1) is
ONLY true if the device is operating in the active mode.

From KCL for the BJT I c I b I e or

I b I e I c 1 I e (8.2)
With 1, then Ib will generally be much, much smaller than Ie
(again, in the active mode).

The ratio of the collector current to the base current is called the
current gain,
I
c or I c I b (8.3)
Ib
This relationship (8.3) is ONLY true if the device is operating in
the active mode.

Dividing (8.1) by (8.2) we find that

Ic
or (8.4)
Ib 1 1
With 0.99 , then 100 200 in the active mode. (Note
that is often called hfe in data sheets.)

In the active mode, we can think of the BJT base current as

controlling the collector current (since I c I b ). Because is a
large number in the active region, then a small Ib change
Whites, EE 322 Lecture 16 Page 7 of 8

produces a much larger Ic change. Weve made an amplifier

where the base is the input and the collector is the output!

Large Signal BJT Models

Based on our discussions in this lecture, we can now construct a

large signal model of the npn BJT as (Fig. 8.3a):
c

Ic

Ib

Ib
b
Ie

Weve modeled only the EBJ with a diode. We can also include
the effect of the CBJ as shown in Fig. 8.3(b) of the text. In that
case, we use the reverse active current gain r .

These s are not equal since BJTs are generally not

manufactured symmetrically:
e b c

n
p

The model in 8.3(b) is called the Ebers-Moll model and is used

in SPICE.
Whites, EE 322 Lecture 16 Page 8 of 8

Ic
Ir

I r Ic I f r Ir
Ib
b If-rIr Ic I f r Ir Ir
I f 1 r I r

If
Ie
e

BJT Regions of Operation

There are four distinct regions of operation of a BJT, as

mentioned at the beginning of this lecture. These regions are
defined by the state of the EBJ and CBJ as listed in Table 8.1:

Region Vbe Vbc Vce Ic

Forward Reversed
Active ?? Ib
biased biased
Saturation Forward Forward 0.2-
< Ib
(on) biased biased 0.3 V
Cutoff Reversed Reversed
?? 0
(off) biased biased
Reverse Reverse Forward I c I f 1 r I r
??
Active biased biased 1 r I b

In the next lecture, we will consider the saturation and cutoff

regions of operation. These are the on and off states of the
BJT when it is used as an electronic switch.